The Gifted Graduation (2020)

This is quite anti-climactic

It is really such a let down compared to The Gifted, especially the climax.

The story has too many plot twist that I don't see it as a plot twist anymore, not surprising at all. Sometimes the plot twist is too sudden that makes me questionning the motives of the character who make the plot twist (Yes, I am looking at you P'Chanon who keep switching sides everytime you showed up, and those bodyguard who are too afraid with a little high schooler girl while all she doing is just talking lol). Also, I find it hillarious that side characters just stand still like a statue while the central character on the scene who does the talk talking.

The acting, well, everyone plays the their character very well as long as they are not the side characters on the scene who does nothing but watching other people talk.

The music hasn't change much since from The Gifted and I kind of missed it.

Since this season is quite dissapointing for an ending of the greatness The Gifted, I don't think I want to watch it for a second time. I definitely won't recommend it either if you are already satisfied with the ending of The Gifted season 1.

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You definately gotta give it a try!

If you liked season 1 and wanted to see how this story ends, you should definitely see this season!

New characters are added to the story, new plots, some well-known characters have important changes both in personality and in the plot. You must pay attention to all the characters, because each one, in one way or another, is important to resolve this conflict. This series excellently completes a story that left us waiting to see how they could destroy the educational system in that universe.

By the way, this is my first review. I really liked this series, so i trully recommend it!

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As they say, power makes careless

While I thought that the first season had its flaws, I overall still found them negligible and they did not impact my viewing experience to the point where I could not appreciate the concept and ideas presented in the show. This season, however, did not improve upon the problems from season one at all but instead amplified them by a hundred.

Now, I had already had my doubts about this season from the very first episode. I had expected season two to continue where season one had left off but instead, I was faced with an unexpected two-year time skip and a new set of main characters. Still, I really wanted to give this a fair chance, so I kept on watching, which was really my own fault since I could already tell that this was not for me from the very beginning.

Firstly, the new characters range from absolutely unbearable to utterly forgettable. The season starts off with our new protagonist, Time, wanting to reinstate the Gifted Program as he believes it will somehow benefit him in the future despite people repeatedly telling him that it's not a good idea and that the program was abolished for a reason. Despite already having received his potential prior to taking the placement exam and having interacted with Gifted Class XV, he doesn't even try to understand their reasoning at all and just stubbornly sticks with his idea. Without any care or regard for the words of others, this supposedly smart character just keeps on pushing forward with his agenda and excuses his own actions by saying that it will not only benefit him but also every other kid in school. Yet, he is also somehow not confident enough that people will actually want to join his cause, so he decides to fake the results of his petition with the help of Grace, who sides with him because she wants to... keep her perm? Needless to say, their motivations are shallow and I could not understand them whatsoever.

Third's character, while not nearly as atrocious as Time or Grace's, still suffers from being incredibly underdeveloped. He starts out as someone who seeks out validation from the adults by acting as a student inspector and who is tempted by the idea of gaining further recognition through getting accepted into the Gifted Program, while outwardly being against its reinstation. He was by far my favorite out of the three new characters because I thought if developed correctly, he could make for an interesting character and maybe even tread the line between good and evil to become an even more compelling sub-villain than Wave was in season one. But what they really ended up doing with him was... nothing. They simply used him to incite some small conflict by temporarily siding with Miss Darin for maybe 5 minutes in total for an honestly pretty understandable reason and in the end, his "evil actions" didn't even have any ill effect on anyone really since the reason Time collapsed after Third used his potential on him was not because of him but because of the NYX-88 virus. If you cut Third out of the story completely, it would literally make no difference at all to the plot of the show, which just goes to show how little effort was put into him from the start.

Furthermore, instead of at least further developing the pre-existing characters from season one, they somehow managed to make them progress backward. Sure, it was shown that some of them had improved their potentials but that was about it. The characters did not grow at all and while they acted like they had become such good friends who had united to fight for the same cause and had set aside their individual problems for the greater good in the first few episodes, that illusion was shattered so quick, which was really disappointing because the reason for their failure in season one had been that their opinions had been too divided to agree upon one definitive way to defeat the director and now they basically started their next fight in an even worse state of division than before while expecting a different outcome.

The entire group solely places their trust in Pang for some reason, which to me makes no sense because he is not only the least academically gifted, he is also the one who uses his potential the least and is, therefore, the only one who has barely progressed with it at all. Instead of making decisions together, they just all look at Pang for the answers, who is understandably overwhelmed by it. When Korn betrays the group and spreads the NYX-88 virus, he tells Pang it's his fault for not looking out for him and asking him if he was contend with the solution they had collectively come up with. However, this makes no sense as they had, well, supposedly collectively decided that this was the best option and he had the chance to oppose it but just chose not to. Pang even asks in the drama why Korn didn't step forward at the end of season one to agree with him that the erasure of all potentials was the only true way to equality if he thought that the Gifted Program was the root of all evil, to which Korn simply responds with some nonsensical argument that "Well, erasing the potentials wouldn't actually change anything," which doesn't even make sense because he literally said he thought it was the only way out a second prior. His character is supposed to be motivated by the fact that his potential brings him more harm than good and that he feels unseen and unheard but really, none of his actions would even solve his issues. What good would it do him to only try to kill Gifted Class XVI while Gifted Class XV stays healthy? One group of students dying wouldn't really change a thing if the ministry or the director was really hell-bent on continuing the Gifted Program as we have already seen that they don't shy away from covering up any deaths or even killing people themselves if needed.

Chanon's storyline also has much of the same problem wherein he is supposed to be tormented by the years he lost to his memory wipeout but instead of blaming the person who is actually responsible for it, which is Director Supot, he lets out his frustrations on his former best friend Pom, who was a literal child when all of this happened, actively helps the director, and then just stays as miserable as he started. I think the writers also noticed that neither Korn's nor Chanon's motivations and actions were really consistent with their characters, so they just casually threw in the fact that they were secretly manipulated by the director all along and are actually still nice people to make everything make sense and redeem their characters. But at least to me, their redemption arc did not work at all because they were still saying and doing horrible things outside of what the director had initially ordered them to do and I also don't believe that some of the characters like Pom, who had been injected with a possibly life-long, incurable illness by Chanon, or Punn, who had been slashed in the gut by Korn and almost driven to insanity, would really forgive them that easily.

I also did not enjoy what they did to Punn and Claire, who had been my favorite characters in season one. Punn just randomly starts developing severe trust issues in Claire just because he is no longer her number one priority and she now sometimes focuses more on other things and people as well like her childhood friend Korn, who is going through a tough time and whom she had basically neglected for Punn until now. Her setting some boundaries should not be enough to send Punn off into insanity as it did this season because it is such a vital part of their relationship in season one that they both care and love each other to the point where one of the main reasons why Punn doesn't go completely insane in season one is exactly because of Claire. After his whole character arc in season one, I cannot believe that his trust would be so easily broken by a one-time instance like Claire not telling him that Korn is the culprit right away but instead choosing to try to peacefully resolve the conflict on her own first. Not to mention that Punn's evil arc doesn't even add anything significant to the plot besides causing a rift between the gifted students for two episodes or so because he never actually ends up using the powers he copied for anything really bad.

As for Claire, she pretty much faces the same fate as Mon this season. They say that they want to take matters into their own hands and try to help Korn before he ends up in jail for the rest of his life or something even worse happens to him since he is still their friend after all. This whole thing is framed as some girl power move in the show, which is ironic because they just vanish for the rest of this story arc after outsourcing their plan to Pang and Time, making them rely on men once again to solve their problems. It also heavily plays into the stereotype of "girls are emotional and boys are logical," while simultaneously praising itself as some feminist plot point.

But Pang is by far the character that was hit the worst this season. Instead of showing how he grows into some charismatic leader that guides his friends into a bright and hopeful future, he just gets treated badly by them all the time. Everything he does gets framed as something terrible and he is held responsible for every single little thing, even things he doesn't have anything to do with. He does what they want but it ends badly? That's his fault. He ends up going with his own idea and resolves the problem? The other students feel betrayed by him for not listening to them. He is nice to his friends? Probably just because he wants something from them, that sly manipulator.

No matter what happens, he cannot win. His friends believe he doesn't truly care for them the moment he even makes a small slip-up and all his hard work trying to accommodate for them and their needs gets unrecognized. He could easily use his potential to simply make them do whatever he wants instead of playing friends with them but the other characters don't even stop for a second to consider that he is sacrificing his own mental health by refusing to use his potential on them just so that they can have their freedom.

He gets blamed for not saving Korn and for not realizing that he had this whole evil scheme planned from the beginning when really, there was no way for him to know because it was shown that despite his inner dissatisfaction with his own life, Korn was actually still planning to warn his friends of the virus instead of spreading it before the director interfered. But instead of putting the blame on Korn, or later on the director after they find out about the manipulation, they just put it on Pang, who at best only indirectly influenced the whole thing. After Pang witnesses Korn's suicide attempt, not knowing if he survived it, and he is led to believe that Time has died under his watch, too, none of his friends offer their condolences or mental support to him. We only see a half-hearted scene of Ohm knocking on his door once to check up on him but that really doesn't change anything because right after, Ohm suddenly decides to also blame Pang for everything and says he's ruining his nice and carefree life, which really doesn't suit his character at all because he is supposed to be one of Pang's best friends. Even Wave, who suddenly becomes uncharacteristically sweet this season, just lashes out at Pang as he seems fit, and then when the writers need him to, he goes back to loving Pang unconditionally. Really, almost all members of the original cast turned into detestable characters in the second season because all of them were willing to let their juniors die from the virus to keep their own comfort and literally didn't bat an eye while blaming Pang for their own mistakes and driving him into such a deep depression that he even says in one episode that he'd rather die than continue on just to push forward his ideals, which ended up just bringing him more pain than good.

In the end, Pang isn't even the one who really affects any change. For the last two or three seasons, it suddenly becomes "The Gifted: Grace is the Best" and the writers conveniently give her some clairvoyant ability to fix all of their problems, not even addressing the whole can of time paradox they have opened by doing so. Yes, Pang makes the final decision in spreading the soundwave and making everyone in the whole country gifted but before that, he just passively stands around while Grace cleans up the whole mess.

But really, the biggest problem this season has is that it just feels like the writers thought they needed to change things up a bit so it's not entirely the same plot as in the first season, so they simply resolved what should have been the main conflict— getting rid of the Gifted Program and creating equality amongst the students of Ritdha Wittayakom High School— in the first few episodes and forcibly introduced some new, even bigger problem with NYX-88. The characters already struggled to solve the much easier to solve problem and now this? A basic "a deadly virus has spread" storyline like in every other dystopian piece of media? Really?

The writing just felt so uninspired and it really just infuriated me at some point. Characters changed their personalities at the whim of the writers instead of actually developing or developed new abilities as needed. The story jumped from Director Supot being the villain to Miss Darin being the villain to the ministry being the villain to Korn being the villain back to Miss Darin being the villain again but this time with Punn's help to Director Supot being the villain again but this time with Pom's help to Chanon being the villain to Director Supot being the villain once again to even future Grace being the villain for a brief second at the end. I saw people praise the writing of the show in the comments under the episodes but really, nothing made sense. The writers just hoped you wouldn't notice that there were so many plot holes as long as they made the story convoluted enough.

Just to address some of the things that really made no sense: Why did the ministry suddenly change their opinion on the Gifted Program? Because someone else took charge of it? Am I really supposed to believe that the Ministry of Education is the highest-ranking entity in the entirety of Thailand and one man has the capability to shut down a whole project that was framed as crucial to the development of the country until now just because he wants to? And there's also really nobody in the entire government who questioned whether it was ethically and morally correct to let a batch of kids die because of some useless power play?

Also, if Director Supot has the ability to make a person believe they are a whole other person, why not just use his potential on the minister from the start, before he could notify anyone else of his potential and take security measures, if the minister is the only member of the ministry standing in his way? Why not make him believe they are best friends or even make the minister make him a part of the ministry so he can closely monitor their actions? And if you can actually use your potential on someone else with the same potential as long as they are mentally weak enough, why didn't Supot at least try to use it on Pang while he was clearly depressed and mentally unwell?

It also makes no sense to me why the director would send Namtaan overseas because her ability could be a danger to him since she can see the past but not use his ability on Namtaan herself by telling her to stay away but on her mother instead. If Namtaan was never under the influence of his potential and knew that the real reason she was sent away was that she was a danger to the director all along, why did she not try to get back by herself? Why did she not tell her friends about it and encourage them to steal some of the director's belongings, ship them to her before he found out, and she would then proceed to uncover all his secrets far away, securely tucked away in her overseas home? And if anything, wouldn't it be more secure for the director to not tell Namtaan she's a danger to him and then quickly infect her with NYX-88 to make her compliant as soon as he got his hands on it? I get that Namtaan's actress probably really didn't appear in the series because of some scheduling conflict but then why even say that that was a possibility?

I just really feel like it was such a shame that they decided to waste the perfectly fine story from season one by continuing it like this and I honestly would not recommend this season to anyone, even if they were fans of the first season. I felt like I was wasting my time watching it and it just make my blood boil with how bad it was. The more time I spend writing this, the more things I find that either don't add up and I could keep going if I wanted to but I think this much is enough.

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Engaging with an insane number of plot twists

The sequel doesn't quite have the same appeal as the first season, which is more focused on a group of youths discovering their potentials but eventually fighting against the director of the school who has created an unequal system and done some pretty heinous things.

Season 2 loses a lot of the sort of mood. This doesn't make it bad, but perhaps it will no longer attract the same audiences. Season 2 is very solid in terms of having an engaging story though it also appears that the scriptwriter(s) has decided to throw in plot twists just because it can be done. To be fair, the twists are deftly executed and can surprise even those who are already expecting some twists. Yet, this cleverness also creates a fictional world in which one can be sure of practically nothing, including the protagonists' goals and beliefs (or perhaps even who the protagonists are?).

Undeniably, Season 2 would have disappointed many people if it had ended up simply showcasing more and more special potentials the way it was done in Season 1. Instead, it seems like a smart choice to dwell more on the character of Supot and his past--complete with a couple of plot twists-- after introducing a few new characters and their potentials. The story is exciting and suspenseful, but perhaps we also find it hard to root for any of the main characters in particular. When we can no longer be sure what the students should be fighting or fighting for, it can also be an alienating experience though this is probably part of the point.

It is hard to pinpoint any aspect of the series that has been done badly. Everything is at least reasonably good though we may find that there are too many characters, some of whom are not adequately showcased. Punn is a character who is given a reasonable amount of screen time but there seems to be so much more to the character that I wish there had been more shown about him. The new character, Third, on the other hand, is an intriguing character who vacillates between been rather irritating and being rather lovable and doesn't seem to have been developed sufficiently. There are some nice Pang/Wave bromance moments to please fans, but again, I wish there had been more about their relationship (and the other relationships in the story). Perhaps the underlying problem is that the events unfold at a frenetic pace with multiple plot twists and something has to give way somehow.

The series could also have been more interesting thematically. While it surfaces the issue of inequality in society and of the question of how to have inequality when people may not be born all that equal (do we have to rely on special people to fight for equality?), it eventually seems to refrain from commenting strongly on the theme of inequality. In the final episode, the series even seems to circumvent the issue by suggesting that everyone is special in some way (plot twist: literally everyone is born with a potential) though Director Supot wants to activate and develop the potentials of those with certain traits like a high IQ. Then the series tries to emphasize that everyone should have the freedom and choice regarding how to live their own lives (choose whether you want to activate your potential, choose to undo it if you want), but is there really an equivalent choice in real life beyond the fictional universe? Ultimately, the society represented in the series does not become more equal though a force that threatens to make it more unequal is eliminated. Is the status quo of inequality (both in the series and in real life) acceptable then? This isn't really answered.

Still, the strength of the series is ultimately in the interesting story that is told very well. All the actors have performed their roles at least competently. I don't think it can reasonably be said to be a disappointment. It may not have maintained the same tone of the first season or share the same traits that have attracted us to Season 1, but it has its own appeal and is a worthy sequel (after all, Season 1 isn't perfect either, though I enjoyed it).

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Welcome back!!!!

I was disappointed at the end of "Gifted's" first season. I wanted more. Now I have it. I've read some of the criticisms and I must respectfully disagree. I love all of the plot twists. You are never comfortable and that's what a great mystery does. You are jolted around from beginning up to the very end. Who can ask for more from a mystery? The story line is carried perfectly by some really outstanding performances by some very young actors. They make you believe. You are carried with them through all of the ups and downs.

All of the technical elements blend perfectly in telling this story. Music, sets, lighting, cinematography wonderfully support the acting.

Now that all episodes are out, you might find yourself binging. I advise against that. Space your episodes out, giving yourself time to get caught up in the suspense.

Is this series worth re-watching? I say a resounding YES. Ok, ok so you know the ending. Go back and enjoy the performances and enjoy the complications throughout. Yes, It's that good

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The comparison is inevitable

In 2018 the Gifted was released. Even though I am not a huge fan of the whole ''super power'' theme, I decided to give it a chance, because of the rating here, on mydramalist. Not only I wasn't disappointed, but on the contrary I loved it. The cinematography and the directing were both phenomenal. The music was great and so were the actors. And who wouldn't mention the great way of handling the potentials?

The Gifted wasn't just a series that portrayed kids with 'super powers'. It was also a series that judged the educational system and undoubtedly, the best part was the plot. Even though the supernatural aspect was a big part of the series, it felt realistic because they paid attention to almost every character. To these high school kids, that were trying to control their potential without making it destructive for themselves and for others.

Unfortunately, the second season wasn't as satisfying. First of all, one of the aspects that I missed the most was the suspense. In comparison to the first season I wasn't as compelled to watch the next episode immediately. Also, even though the music was equally great, the actors weren't as good as I expected. Their acting was a little bit robotic and not as convincing, and because I have seen many of them in other projects, I choose to believe that the plot was at fault. Which leads me to the most disappointing part of The Gifted: Graduation.

I felt like the plot was over the top. It seemed like they tried too much to make it interesting, while attempting to make it emit the dark vibes of the first season. And they also included new characters that were unlikable to say the least (at least in the first half).

Nonetheless, it is not a bad series. It was decent, but unfortunately the comparison with the first one is inescapable. The Gifted was a fantastic series and every episode was perfect, at least this is how I experienced it. In this one though, they tried too much to add shocking factors to make it more interesting and as a result they neglected other aspects.

However, I will leave this here:
''We do not study hard to get ahead of other people. We study to earn the freedom to choose our paths and to choose the world we want to live in''.

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A bit of a let down

To begin with, I knew that a lot of fans had been excited for the premiere of this sequel, even I was counting down and cannot contain the excitement as the first season was captivating and good. But to be honest, I got so disappointed with this one.

STORY
The story continues when they are already seniors and the Gifted program was brought back after a year of disappearance introducing new set of gifted students mainly Grace, Time, and Third. At first, I was actually a bit scared because I thought that the old characters were getting to be overshadowed by the new ones but gladly not. However when the story started, I was compelled and kinda liked the series but of course comparisons were made in Season 2. I would not want to dive deeper into the plot itself but on the later episodes, it got really confusing and overwhelming. I know that they had the capability to turn things around as potentials can be unexpected but then it was all over the place. Their mission of bringing the Gifted program down was still there but they provided way too much plot twists that I do not know where the story is going. But I would understand that some fans wanted it this way as it excites them to tune into the next episode but it was not doing it for me.
Proceeding, the ending for me was kinda disappointing and a bit rushed as well I think. First of all, the series was planned to be 18 episodes long but it was shortened to 13 eps and I do not know the reason why. I think that with that 5 episodes, there were a lot of things that can be discussed because tbh, a lot can still happen. The ending they provided has massive conflicts attached to it, making the country filled with Gifted Students. I know that a lot would happen with the change provided and even though they achieved their mission which is to bring down the director and gain equality for all, the ending they provided can lead to deeper and severe consequences.
I actually thought that this might lead to a potential season 3 but I am not gonna be a big fan of that tbh.

CASTS
TBH, the story was like 80% Pang. I haven't been able to see the full potentials of the other characters and I would really want them to see in a big last fight altogether. There were a lot of moments that the old gifted students were just sitting in the corner, smiling, and chilling down.
I would like to see equal screen time for all.

BUT WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE SERIES is the relatable situation that can be connected to government given the state in Thailand. I actually gained numerous amounts of lessons that can be useful in real life.

ALTOGETHER
I was disappointed I might say with the series in overall aspect. Of course, the producers thought of this out but still, it kinda went downhill and all over the place. It was just like watching plot twists after plot twists then a single episode of solving all the problems.

I would still like to say that I liked the Season1 better than the Sequel

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Too much, too little time

The conclusion of the Gifted and well, what a ride.

When the Gifted S1 was released, some called it the most thrilling Thai series and it is hard to argue with that. The pacing, cinematography and storytelling was excellently crafted. It made us feel some sort of attachment to each character (except well, the criminally underrated twins).

Fast forward to the Gifted 2, for which expectations were naturally high. Did it live up to my expectations? Maybe no.

Let's talk about the positives. The acting remains strong as ever. Nanon, Jane, Gun and Ssing delivered several emotional performances superbly, as did the other cast members. Cinematography was excellent, and I really liked the yellow tint in the director's flashback episodes. The theme which ran parallels to growing youth movements around the world was not overly preachy and conveyed some applicable messages about hope and unity.

What went wrong? In a previous comment, I insisted it was storytelling and it sure plagued this season up to the finale. A rule in scriptwriting is "show, don't tell" and that was a prevalent problem in the last episode where there was too many exposition. The odd placing of characters was tough to watch as side characters stood around while the main delivered their lines. Many of the plot twists did not pay off too: What causes Chanon to switch sides? What is the purpose of the virus when we don't see the students getting cured? What actually is the Ministry's plan? A tried and tested method to engage viewers attention was used to an overkill here, and it did not serve the series well. There are other problems too, but I'm sure the comment section would be a greater place to explore that than here.

To sum up my thoughts, I feel that this season deserved a better, more well thought out storyline. That in no way robs this series from the brilliant acting displayed by its cast. It is an enjoyable series, but maybe due to its plot twists, may not withstand the scrutiny of a second watching.

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I know everyone is saying that the first season was better but that's not the case for me. I really enjoyed this season a lot more to the first one,the plot twist was everything here,at some point I couldn't wait a week to see the next episode to know what happened and it never got draggy. It's really an interesting drama.

STORY: continuation of the first season but two years later that means Pang and his friends were now graduating students and new students have been enrolled. Because of the incident that took place in the first season, the gifted program was stopped but the director wasn't okay with it and tried so hard to bring the program back for the new students and luckily he was able to convince the ministry and the program was brought back but this time it became more dangerous than before><

ACTING/CAST: everyone did an amazing job,the characters played their roles well with the right emotions. Ohm's character really got me here because he's the kind of person who wants to live a carefree life and spend his youth happily but when he knew that happiness don't just come without fighting for it you won't get true happiness and again you can't be truly happy when your friends and everyone are in danger. Pang also learnt that you can't win always,you have to fail in other to achieve victory and let's not forget about Wave who was very insecure and didn't open up to people was finally able to help and stand with his friends to fight for what is right.
Their development really made this season worth watching^^

MUSIC: honestly I can't remember hearing them play any music only sounds were heard and I liked it lol

OVERALL: Am giving this drama a 9.5 not because it doesn't deserve a 10 but because that's my feeling about it. It had a really good plot which I found amusing.

My little rant is that the ending wasn't really intense as to how I wanted it to be. The defeat was easy lol. Apart from that I enjoyed watching this drama and recommend it. It's a good watch.

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The Storyline was UNEXPECTED

Well, as a series enthusiast, The Gifted (the first season) is really good. Although it has an ugly twist, in the end, it provided a good transition to The Gifted Graduation.

I did not expect the changes in the character's personality, especially when doing hard decisions.

If you are planning to have season three, it will be appreciated to see what was the impact of The Gifted Graduation. The ending was satisfying with a twist but UPLIFTING.

"You are studying hard because you want to earn freedom": One of the best messages of any Thai Series I ever watch.

I congratulate the entire cast and crew of the show, GMMTV, and One31 for a mind-boggling yet uplifting and inspiring show.

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this season ruined season 1

i really love the gifted season 1 and was excited to see how the story end in season 2 but the story were too complicated and didn't actually point out anything. they only showed few kids ability like Pang, Wave, Punn. the rest of the kids' ability didn't really showed. they also didn't show friendship between the gifted students (except Pang and Wave). sadly, i really want to see how their relationship grow since season 1. i also think they didn't need to add additional cast like the new gifted students. and also, as the story grew more complicated, the ending didn't make any sense. SPOILER ALERT ! at the end of the season, the kids made a stupid solution by releasing the recording to the world so that everyone could have superpower. they thought it was the right thing to do. they didn't think if everyone have superpower then it will be a disaster, just imagine how many people will using it for crime and the chaos after that. but the show ended and didn't give any explanations. i hope there is season 3 so the story didn't ended horribly like that.

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Wonderful sequel with a rushed execution

I had mixed feelings when I started watching this season, because the ending of season 1 was amazing and written in a way that in my eyes didn’t easily allow for a sequel that wouldn’t ruin the story. Turns out, season 2 was in part an improvement over its predecessor, although it unfortunately also had some weaknesses.

There was one major problem with this season: it was packed with a variety of characters and many complex storylines, but the storytelling was extremely rushed. Without having researched the production details of this season, I strongly assume that something went wrong during production, forcing them either to radically cut scenes that had originally been filmed or to skip parts of the screenplay already during filming. Probably GMMTV had to rearrange their schedule due to the pandemic and this series ended up in an airing spot it was not designed for. In my opinion, the screenplay was probably aiming at a format similar to “Who Are You”, with 18 episodes à 60 minutes (maybe a little less, 16 episodes or so). That would explain why many characters were underused, there were huge gaps between scenes, many developments lacked explanation and the opening credits were left out or radically shortened. It’s a shame, because what ultimately ended up in the series was extremely promising and exciting, only disturbed by the rushed storytelling. 13 episodes of this length are a joke for this story.

With that being said, the material that we got to see was great. They seemingly were not afraid to push their criticism of the Thai education system even further, digging deeper in the political environment allowing for all of this to happen in the first place. Including the gruesome red drum killings from Thai history was not something I would have expected from a kids’ show. The story was pretty strong, with many unexpected plot twist (which actually made sense, unlike those in “Blacklist”), a healthy level of tension throughout and an interesting shift of “leadership” between several characters. The antagonist was again very convincing, while on the side of the protagonists the roles of various characters were rather “blurred”; this made it a little hard to sympathise with the kids, but in the context of the story it still worked. The acting was generally fine, although I felt like Nanon was a little spaced out sometimes. As an improvement over season 1, I liked that the story didn’t need several slow introducing episodes, but started right away. On the other hand, the ending, while still strong and unpredictable, lacked the kind of build-up of the finale of season 1, probably due to the overall rush.

In short: this is an extremely strong second season! If the director had been given enough time to tell all of the story and that in a proper pace, it could have been a 10/10 for me; like this it is still 9*, as I can't find anything to criticise besides the rushed storytelling.

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